8:47 AM
by thatcheshirergin
Summary: Just a bit off Post Exit Wounds fluff... An unexpected guest helps whats left of the team cope.


At 8:47 AM, Ianto was making coffee when Gwen came into the hub, sopping wet, with a fury little body cradled in her arms. "Found him huddled under the dumpster 'round back," She explained, biting her lip apologetically as Jack came down from his office and Ianto handed both of them a warm cup of coffee. "There was no mother or anything in sight, and with the weather we've had… I didn't feel right leaving it."

The little kitten was small enough to sit comfortably in one hand and was soaked to the bone and covered in mud. It huddled in Gwen's arm, looking absolutely terrified, and Jack turned round to give Ianto a LOOK.

With a weary sigh, Ianto wandered off to find a towel, and a box for the kitten to sleep in.

At 9:00 am, Jack was on a conference call with some ridiculously important political figure Ianto had forgot the name of, and Gwen had run out to pick up Rhys after he'd got his wisdom teeth out. Ianto was left alone to wade through the veritable tower of paperwork that had been left after Gray's disastrous visit. He was just getting into the rhythm of filling in lines and checking off boxes when a piteous wail rose up from beneath Gwen's desk. With the deep sigh of the heavily oppressed, Ianto was forced to get up from his work and hunt down some creamer and a shallow bowl.

The kitten cleaned up well. Gwen had managed to get most of the dirt out of its coat, and sans grime it was snowy white over most of its body, save for a golden, diamond-shaped patch over the left side of its face. When it smelled the milk it mewled loudly and attempted to jump out of the box, but only succeeded in falling flat on its backside. "Calm yourself, you little clown." He said, with what was very nearly a chuckle.

Then he rearranged the blankets to make room for the bowl, set it down in the box, and went back to work.

By 10:53 am, Gwen had returned and was rolling balls of crumpled-up forms across the table for the kitten to chase. Ianto had a respectable pile of papers in his FINISHED pile, and was pretending to work on the fifteenth PAYMENT FOR DAMAGES RENDERED sheet he'd done all day. However, in reality, he was paying more attention to the fact that, though Jack was ostensibly still on the phone with whatever higher-up had demanded attention that week, his office was silent. This was a sure sign that Jack had descended into another of his brooding moods. Recently, it had come to Ianto's attention that if brooding was an Olympic sport, Jack would hold all the gold medals, and would be a role model to young brooders everywhere.

Suddenly, there was a loud bang as Jack slammed open his office door. He stormed across the room, his coat half-on, and Ianto briefly considered asking where he was going before it occurred to him that he really liked his head and would prefer not to have it bitten off by an irate lover. Gwen and he exchanged a LOOK, and silently agreed that it would be best to let him storm off to wherever he was headed uninhibited. This had been happening on almost a weekly basis as of late, and thus far Jack had always come back in more or less one piece. The sickness Ianto would feel when, later, he sat down to scrub the bloodstains out of Jack's coat and shirt seemed a small enough price to pay to keep peace in the workplace.

No sooner was this decision made than the cat, frustrated because Gwen had stopped playing with it, batted at a wad of paper. Jack, meanwhile, stormed past just in time to be struck full on in the face. There was a moment's pause, that seemed to last forever. Then the corner of Jack's mouth quirked up into a smile, and reached over and scooped the kitten up in one hand. "You're a violent little thing." He said, and gently stroking its head. "Your sure clean up nice, though." He stayed a few moments longer, then went back to his office to make a call.

Ianto could have been wrong, but he thought he noticed a bit of the old spring, back in Jack's step at last.

At 2:49 PM Gwen hung up the phone in a huff and glared at it. She'd been arguing with her landlady for the past thirty minutes, but apparently she'd made little headway. Jack looked up sympathetically from where he sat, perched on the corner of Ianto's desk. "No luck?" He asked, running his hands unconsciously through the kitten's fur.

"Afraid so." Gwen sighed, smiling her thanks as Ianto set a mug full of coffee in front of her. "Evidently, the 'no pets' rule is non-negotiable."

"Well she cant say here." Jack said, sounding genuinely regretful. "I'm afraid most aliens don't take well to cats."

"I'll take her 'round the SPCA after work." Ianto volunteered, and traded the coffee for the kitten. "I drive right past it on my way home." He held it carefully away from his body, being sure to keep any cat fur from landing on his suit, and gently deposited it in Gwen's lap.

"Poor little mite." Gwen cooed, scratching it behind the ears. It purred loudly and curled up into a ball on Gwen's lap. "Cute little thing like you won't have any trouble getting adopted, though." Ianto frowned a little, but didn't comment, and instead buried himself back in his paperwork.

By 4:37 pm, the team- or what was left of it- was having trouble coming up with excuses to stay. Almost as though it understood and was showing mercy, the rift had been rather quiet as of late, and even the weevil attacks had been unusually few and far between. Though the piles of paperwork were miles high and littering the office, none of them were at all urgent and most didn't really need to be filled out at all. Had circumstances been different, Jack would almost certainly have given them the rest of the day off, and they all would have gone home hours ago. Things being what they were, though, the team had found themselves reluctant to leave the comfort of each other's company. They were, at the moment, sitting in random places throughout the hub, staring into space. Ianto was in the kitchen, rubbing at the same lack of dirt he'd been working at for the past twenty minutes and ignoring the little ball of fur that kept rubbing itself up against his leg. At long last, it was Jack who broke the silence, looking regretful as he turned to Gwen. "You might as well take the evening off, then." He told her, "Check up and see how Rhys is doing."

"I suppose so." Gwen said, trying to make it look like she wanted to leave and failing miserably. She grabbed up her purse and jacket and walked into the kitchen, picked up the kitten and held it to her face. "Poor little thing. You'll have to be extra-cute so someone adopts you soon, Ok?" It purred again and leaned forward to rub its cheek against hers. "Not that you'll have any trouble with that." She chuckled.

As Ianto held his hands out for kitten, the smile faded and turned to something sadder. "I best be going, too." He said, "Gotta get little Harlequin to the SPCA before it closes."

"Harlequin?" Gwen asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Read somewhere the one's with names get adopted quicker." He said innocently. Evidently, Gwen accepted this, because the hopeful look in her eyes faded.

Mind if I come by later?" Jack had not spent a single night anywhere but Ianto's flat since his return from wherever it was he'd been those three months, but he still asked every time, and every time he sounded like he genuinely expected Ianto to turn him down.

"'Course not." Ianto replied, like he did every night, and smiled, like he did every night. Gwen turned and said goodbye, and gave Ianto a LOOK, and gave Jack a LOOK, too, when she thought Ianto wasn't looking. Both Jack and Ianto gave her LOOKS back. And Harlequin looked round at everything before settling down in Ianto's arms and taking another nap.

As 11:51 PM blinked on Ianto's dash clock (seven hours fast, for the past six months), he fought his way through rush hour traffic, and tapped his hand against the wheel in time to the rock song that was playing on the radio. He didn't actually like the song- wasn't even sure he liked the genre of music- but it was catchy enough to keep his mind off things.

The kitten, Harlequin, purred contentedly in his lap. It had escaped its box, and Ianto hadn't been in the mindset to put it back. The song changed, and with a jolt that felt like he'd been wind-mill kicked in his small intestine, Ianto realized that Owen had played this song, frequently, while he'd been working in the autopsy bay. It would be raucously loud, and the team would groan and moan in annoyance; especially Tosh.

And Ianto tried to, tried as hard as he could, but couldn't seem to make himself change the station. Instead, he pulled the car to the side of the road, rested his head against the glass, and bit back tears.

He didn't notice the kitten moving until its face was right up in his and it was anxiously rubbing its face up against him. Ianto couldn't hold back, then, and he sobbed openly. The cat's sand-paper tongue scraped up the tears before they had the chance to fall.

At 5:13 PM, Ianto drove down the street feeling curiously buoyant. Harlequin stood in his lap, her little paws balanced against the steering wheel. She eyed the passing scenery with profound fascination, and Ianto watched her with amusement.

At 5:16 PM it occurred to Ianto that his flat building allowed pets.

At 5:18 PM Ianto wondered if the SPCA were even open this late on weeknights anyway.

At 5:21 PM Harlequin stretched luxuriously, and looked at Ianto with pure adoration in her eyes.

At 5:29 PM Ianto turned down a corner and saw the sign for the SPCA growing large in the windshield, glanced down at the kitten sitting comfortably in his lap, and kept driving.


End file.
